NEUROTANGO: Dance Movement Therapy Method E-Book

María Teresa Gil Ogliastri

• Herausgeber: Editorial Autores de Argentina
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 125

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2026

Beschreibung

Based on the pioneering experiences in Buenos Aires linking Tango and Mental Health, psychologist María Teresa Gil Ogliastri created and developed a working methodology called NEUROTANGO, grounded in her postgraduate thesis in Dance Movement Therapy at the National University of the Arts: "Contributions of Tango in the Context of DMT for the Social Interaction of Adults with Intellectual, Visual, and Motor Disabilities." NEUROTANGO draws upon the solid foundations of Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) as a therapeutic framework and integrates the contributions of Tango as a social dance with the concept of Neurodiversity, which highlights the remarkable abilities that lie behind disabilities. Its aim is to enhance social interaction and communication through the exploration of the following resources: Movement, Space, Contact, Time, Synchrony, and Emotions. This approach enables participants to inhabit their bodies and develop human capacities such as building emotional bonds, expressing emotion, coordinating movement, and experiencing vitality, beauty, and synchrony. Since 2015, NEUROTANGO has been presented in numerous Conferences, Gatherings, and Milongas throughout Buenos Aires. It is currently offered as a University Extension Workshop at the National University of the Arts (UNA) – Department of Folklore, and has been declared a "Culturally Significant Project of the City of Buenos Aires" by the Ministry of Culture of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. In this way, NEUROTANGO benefits neurodiverse individuals, who deserve artistic activities with accessible formats and meaningful inclusion in the community, well-being, and quality of life.

Leseprobe

María Teresa Gil Ogliastri

NEUROTANGO

Dance Movement Therapy Method. Tango for Neurodiverse People

Gil Ogliastri, María Teresa Neurotango : dance movement therapy method : tango for neurodiverse people / María Teresa Gil Ogliastri. - 1a ed. - Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires : Autores de Argentina, 2025.

Libro digital, EPUB

Archivo Digital: descarga y online

ISBN 978-987-87-7199-1

1. Ensayo. I. Título. CDD 741.642

EDITORIAL AUTORES DE [email protected]

Índice

Prologue

Comments on the work: Dance Movement Therapy/Tango and Neuroscience

Integration and public university

To the Rhythm of the Heart

Acknowledgments

Introduction

CHAPTER I

DMT: Basic Concepts

Origin of DMT: The work of Marian Chace

Kinesthetic empathy

Empathy and neuroscience

The movement

The contact

The Space

Emotions

The rhythm

Synchronicity

CHAPTER II

Intellectual disability

The young adult with an intellectual disability

The body and intellectual disability

Movement and intellectual disability

Neurodiversity

CHAPTER III

Nature of social relations

The social network

Benefits of social relationships

CHAPTER IV

Background of tango and health in Buenos Aires

Background of tango and disability in Buenos Aires

Tango and Motor Disability. Dance Without Borders Company

Tango and Parkinson's. Ramos Mejía Hospital (Buenos Aires)

Tango and Visual Impairment. Blind Tango

Tango and Visual Impairment. Tango without Seeing

Tango and Intellectual Disability. Tango at the Tobias Foundation

CHAPTER V

History of NEUROTANGO. DMT/Tango for Neurodiverse People

NEUROTANGO Justification: DMT/Tango for Neurodiversity People

NEUROTANGO Fundamentals: DMT/Tango for Neurodiverse People

NEUROTANGO Adaptations: DMT/Tango for Neurodiverse People

NEUROTANGO Therapeutic Framework: DMT/Tango for Neurodiversity Individuals

Some NEUROTANGO cases: DMT/Tango for people with Neurodiversity

Fernando and the Rhythm

Peter and Space

Analia and the Movement

Joseph and Synchronicity

José and the Contact

Martin and the Emotions

Cande and the Integration / Revitalization of the Body

CHAPTER VI

PHOTOS

Literature

Part of this book is the Specialization Work in Dance Movement Therapy entitled: Contributions of Tango in the context of Dance Movement Therapy for social interaction in adults with intellectual, visual, and motor disabilities.

Author: María Teresa Gil Ogliastri, Licensed Psychologist.

Director: PhD DMT*R Diana Fischman.

Research Area: Movement Patterns and Social Interaction.

Postgraduate Degree in Dance Movement Therapy.

Department of Movement Arts.

National University of the Arts.

Buenos Aires-September 2017.

To my parents, Maria Teresa Ogliastri and Wolfgang Gil, for giving me the first heartbeats.

To my husband, Luciano Mociulsky, for accompanying me with his firm embrace in every step of adult life.

To my son, Diego Mociulsky, for being the reason my heart beats.

To my Tango patients, for inspiring me and showing me in every hug, every step and every turn the path of this research.

Prologue

Writing about the experience of dancing is ineffable. Investigating and reporting on the achievements and progress made in observing and recording a group process of Dance Movement Therapy is a task that requires method and perseverance.

If it also involves being an intervening actor, a natural leader, a dance movement therapist, a group coordinator who fosters the well-being of each participant under their care, so that each one, within their limitations and possibilities, has the opportunity to interact through their own dance, communicating and being understood when words are scarce: it implies a noble, multifaceted task.

And as if all this were not enough, if the chosen dance is the tango, a tango that involves learning a basic choreographic structure, entering a relationship of contact, encounter, rhythm and fundamentally of embrace, then we can speak of a great adventure.

The adventure of María Teresa Gil Ogliastri, who, being a licensed psychologist and dancer, decides to leave her homeland to embrace a new knowledge: Dance Movement Therapy, training both in the Master's Degree in Dance Movement Therapy of the University of Art, UNA, as well as participating in the therapeutic groups, Clinical Supervision and Seminars of B r e c h a - Training Program in DMT of Buenos Aires.

María Teresa weaves together her passion for tango, her need to contribute to the neediest populations, her clinical practices (a requirement of both training programs), leading her to build a space in which she clearly and patiently applies her knowledge.

By employing empathy, and particularly kinesthetic empathy, María Teresa invites young people with disabilities to dance. They are eager, anxious to move, to be included, even though they do not know how. María Teresa finds ways for them to achieve rhythm, the natural order of a simple choreography that embraces them and allows them to express their feelings.

This book is a testament to the process of venturing forth. To give a more formal account is a completely different task that María Teresa undertakes and accomplishes. I hope that, as you read this, you can imagine the experiences of so many young people who came to enjoy and feel part of a community by taking a chance on tango, a therapeutic movement.

Dr. Diana Fischman, PhD; BC-DMT

June 2018

Comments on the work: Dance Movement Therapy/Tango and Neuroscience

Dance is a fundamental form of human expression that likely evolved alongside music as a way to generate rhythm. Our talent for dance is unconsciously trained, and therein lies the heart of dance: the confluence of movement, rhythm, and gestural representation. If we could scan a dancer's brain, we would observe it almost completely “lighting up” due to intense neural activity.

The beginnings of dance/movement therapy (DMT) were intuitive. Pioneers like Marian Chace in the 1940s experimented with dance and observed genuine improvement in their psychiatric patients. Furthermore, while dance is a fundamental form of human expression, neuroscientists only began studying its therapeutic aspects in the mid-2000s. Kinesthetic empathy and mirroring in DMT practice are necessarily linked to the mirror neuron system. Mirror neurons are activated when performing or observing another person's action, allowing us to understand their intentions and feelings. These neurons fire in the same areas of the brain as the person performing the movement. To understand a dancer's movement, my brain dances like them. This explains the empathy that develops between partners in a piece, helping the artist to recover if they forget a part of the choreography. When you are dancing in a group, everyone's brains synchronize; even the audience is dancing in a way. Each participant's brain lights up in exactly the same way as the dancers'.

Changes in movement patterns can be subtle, as observed with the DMT/Tango device, but these changes likely reflect neural changes linked to neuroplasticity and neurogenesis. The tango's strong rhythm demands true synchronization between partners, requiring effective coordination of time and space awareness. All these attributes are well-suited for the integration of neurodiverse individuals.

This book demonstrates the importance of dance/movement therapy for people's well-being, but above all, it shows that tango is a privileged tool for dance therapists working with neurodiverse individuals. For all these reasons, it is a true privilege to have a book of this kind, with the powerful mission of contributing to the theoretical and scientific body of dance therapy in all its aspects. Finally, the “Neurotango” project and the professional rigor of Lic. María Teresa Gil Ogliastri are captured in this book for the reader's enjoyment.

Dr. Silvia Copelli

Biochemistry/Biological Sciences

University of Buenos Aires

June 2018

Integration and public university

The National University of the Arts aims to provide a free, inclusive, and high-quality public education, with integration as one of its primary missions. This is the very essence of the academic work carried out by our Department of Folklore.

Integration is one of the cornerstones of Southern Thought, the ideology that all Latin America recognizes as essential. It centers on all human beings in their splendid and magnificent diversity.

In this sense, there is still much to be done. Our Academic Unit of Folklore emphasizes this work, where we see the same opportunities in others.

That is why, within our Academic Unit, we are committed to ensuring free access to art, and to popular culture in particular, for all those who feel the need to express themselves and approach the different languages of popular art to transform the social reality in which we live every day, and to achieve a better world: more humane and sensitive.

That is why initiatives like this book, “Neurotango,” are so important; it invites us to reflect and gives us tools to transform and include through art. I also want to highlight the work of everyone on the team that runs the “Neurotango” workshop at the University Extension of Folklore at UNA.

Finally, it is worth noting that this proposal was one of the first in our department, and thanks to it, projects addressing integration, diversity, and inclusion have multiplied.

Lic. Víctor Giusto

Dean of the Department of Folklore

National University of the Arts

Buenos Aires - June 2018

To the Rhythm of the Heart

A heart beats, let it beat. My dream lies, let me lie. A heart beats because I must see you again; my dream lies because you return slowly. A heart beats, I seem to see you return with the goodbye. And upon returning, you will shout your horror at yesterday, the pain, the longing, but at last you will lower your voice and bind your anxiety of distances. And you will know why a heart beats when it says: How happy! And a beat, a beat of love will forever unite the goodbye. You will see, my love, how happy you will be. Do you hear the beat? It is the heart. You will see how sweet the hours of return are; you will see how sweet the reproaches and the kisses. You will see, my love, what happy hours to the beat of the heart.

Tango 1942: “To the Rhythm of the Heart”.

Music: Domingo Federico.

Lyrics: Homero Expósito.

Acknowledgments

National University of the Arts-UNA for being the bridge between Tango and Therapy: Dr. Marcela Botinelli Director of the Specialization with option of Master's Degree in Dance Movement Therapy and Dean Victor Giusto Department of Folklore/Tango.

Dr. Diana Fischman, Founder and Director of BRECHA (Center for Practice, Training and Research in Expressive Psychotherapies and Dance Movement Therapy) for training me as a true Dance Movement Therapist and also wisely guiding me with her direction/supervision in my clinical specialization practices.

Dr. Silvia Copelli, for helping me connect Tango with Neuroscience.

Adriana Reinozo, Licensed in Body Expression, who lovingly accompanied me to coordinate the clinical practices in Dance Movement Therapy/Tango.

Augusto Balizano, Graphic Design graduate and Tango teacher, choreographer, and personal friend, for his contribution and wisdom on the resources of Tango dance.

Liliana Menéndez, Speech Therapist and Director of the Therapeutic Educational Center: “Fundación Tobías” for having called me as a therapist to accompany the process of patients with neurodevelopmental disorders in my clinical specialization practices.

Claudia Cordido and Daniela Pinto, great friends, and colleagues in Dance Movement Therapy from the BRECHA training, with whom I am a Co-founder of the Venezuelan Association of Dance Movement Therapy (AVDMT) and who have also been key figures in representing Neurotango in the United States and in Venezuela.

Jasmín Contreras, a licensed psychologist, colleague, and personal friend, who promoted the publication of the book in English and the importance of making Neurotango visible as a therapeutic tool.

Marcelo Fernández and Maite Zuliani, graduates in Psychology, for disseminating the work of Neurotango with to benefit people with disabilities in the United States of America.

Andrea Etchepare, Licensed Psychologist, and the team from the Milonga for Integration: “True Embrace” for opening the first space for Tango and inclusion in Buenos Aires and also for making us part of their noble work.

University of Buenos Aires-UBA Faculty of Psychology Chair of Institutional Psychology: Lic. In Psychology Professor Federico Villar and students for promoting the publication of the book.

Introduction

Dance Movement Therapy is a beneficial approach to mental health. The American Dance Therapy Association defines Dance Movement Therapy as:

“The psychotherapeutic use of movement in a process that promotes the physical, emotional, mental, and social integration of the individual.” (ADTA, 1965-2012) (*Although the DMT literature consulted and the textual translations refer to the word “individual,” we refer to the term “young adults with disabilities” as the subjects of study in this research).

From the 1940s onward, Dance Movement Therapy developed a solid history, foundation, and principles. This discipline has drawn on tools from both dance and psychotherapy. Furthermore, it continues to develop and be enriched by the contributions of research that supports its practice. Dance Movement Therapy has also incorporated social dances such as Tango, Swing, Waltz, and Salsa, as well as movement exploration and improvisation, with the aim of promoting greater psychological well-being.

Bas (2014) argues for the value of swing dance in DMT, as it also belongs to the family of social dances. He highlights that swing allows for communication with others through shared movements, synchronization, shared rhythm, body awareness, and emotional expression. Furthermore, he points out that this dance facilitates grounding, work on the vertical-sagittal planes of movement, and rhythmic awareness.

In the specific case of tango for individuals with Parkinson's disease, Hackney and Earhart (2010) specifically recommend tango, calling this experience with Parkinson's a “Successful Method.” According to the authors, this is because fostering social interaction is essential for the well-being of people with Parkinson's disease. Therefore, they recommend the use and adaptation of community and partner dances for this population. In this regard, these authors believe that a carefully designed plan can be developed with qualified professionals, taking into account patient safety. Under these conditions, tango can provide positive physical, emotional, and mental benefits.

Personally, I believe that Tango is an urban folk dance that quintessentially represents Argentinian identity. Argentine Tango has been internationally disseminated as a social dance for couples in close embrace, based on the couple's walking in a closed embrace, whose characteristic figures have no predetermined order, with a binary musical form and a two-four time signature (Fernández-Latour de Botas, O. and Barreto, T.B., 2012). A deeper look at Tango reveals aspects of the dance that can be used as a powerful tool for connection and interaction. According to Trossero (2010), these aspects enhance changes in the representation of one's own body, the other, and others.